With Jon Alabaladejo’s and Chris Britton’s promotions to the major league team, Scranton needed another bullpen arm. Steven Jackson got the nod. He’s struck out 18 and walked three in 16 innings for Trenton. It appears the Yanks want to see what the 26-year-old can do at a higher level. David Robertson, three years Jackson’s junior, will get his chance in due time.

To take Jackson’s place at AA, J.B. Cox has been promoted. Happy day.

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Via Chad Jennings, JB Cox returned to game action Tuesday for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery, throwing fastballs and sliders (no changeups) in a minor league game. Cox will give it another go on Friday, and said he expects to start the year with High-A Tampa before heading up to Triple-A Scranton when the weather warms up. Oh boy, the kids are gettin’ healthy.

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Over the last 18 months or so, some of the Yanks very best pitching prospects went down with major arm injuries. It was frustrating and almost laughable at how many quality arms went down with Tommy John surgery, but at the same time it’s a testament to the kind of pitching depth the organization has when they can lose that many guys still have arms like Hughes, Joba, IPK, Tyler Clippard and Ross Ohlendorf make contributions at the Major League level.

A popular comment amongst…uh, commentors is that “Player X [who went down with a major injury in 2007] will be ready to help the bullpen by midseason,” and you know what? That statement is completely wrong. Pitchers have to relearn their mechanics and find their control after such a long layoff, and that process can be painstaking at times. Guys who rely on command and control need even more time to get things back to once they were.

Just like Brian Cashman, I can’t predict the future, so the info presented here is basically just my best educated guess, if that makes sense. We’re all hoping these guys get healthy and dominate in 2008, but in reality we should hope that they just finish the year strong. Fun starts after the jump.

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Pete Abraham is reporting that it’s not Tommy John surgery, contrary to what I said earlier. From Pete:

It was not Tommy John surgery as some sites have reported. Brian Cashman said that Cox had a ligament repaired but not replaced, which is what Tommy John surgery is.

This is less invasive surgery and Cox may not necessarily miss the entire season.

Some sites? Who’s he talkin’ bout?

Anyways, anytime a pitcher has the ligament of his pitching elbow tinkered with, it’s not good. Essentially, this delays Cox’s arrival in the Bronx by 2 years. First there’s the initial time missed with the healing and rehab process, then there’s the time he’ll need to refamiliarize himself with the whole act of pitching;Â pitchers who have elbow surgery return to the mound with notoriously bad control. It’s just part of the package.

Then, once he’s actually in game form, the Yanks will probably take it easy and send him to High-A Tampa for a warm up, then bump him up to Double-A Trenton to basically get himself back to where he was at the end of 2006. It’s not until then that he can begin to progress in his development.

Instead of debuting in mid-2007, he’s looking at late-2008 at the earliest.

In happier news, I found the greatest picture in the history of the world:

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First it was Mark Melancon, then it was Christian Garcia, now it’s JB Cox. Now’s your chance to impress, Mr. Beam.

See ya in 2008 JB!

(yes, I have confirmed this with my super secret source. I would tell you who it is, but I’d have to kill you. And I’m too lazy for that.)

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